Expendable, generally rectangular containers or boxes formed of corrugated fiberboard or the like, have been used in the shipping industry for many years. Such containers are particularly suitable for the packing, shipping, and storage of canned goods of various sorts, as well as other individually packaged products.
In the past, such canned goods were generally inserted within an open corrugated box from above, by means of automated top loading machinery. However, automated machinery which provides for the side loading or end loading of such containers has been developed more recently, which equipment is considered to be more efficient by many in the industry, and specialized containers have been developed accordingly for use with such side or end loading packaging machines.
Such machinery has a limitation in that it cannot stack cans or other contents to a height of two or more units, as is generally the case with top loading equipment. As a result, the volume of the containers used with such equipment is relatively limited by the single layer of cans or other goods which may be packaged therein, as enlarging the container horizontally leads to other limitations in handling. Moreover, larger boxes or containers would require very costly changes to the automated packaging equipment, which costs and complexity would generally be prohibitive in the packaging industry. Nevertheless, some means of separably securing single layer side or end loaded boxes or containers together, would provide additional efficiencies in shipping by securing a larger number of individual units together in a single package volume.
Thus, a need will be seen for separable modular containers which may be formed as individual, single layer side or end loaded boxes, but the flat pattern for which is also adapted to allow two or more such individual boxes to be removably joined together along a common side. The flat patterns for the boxes must be relatively simple and efficient, resulting in minimal losses during manufacturer and must provide for folding and construction of boxes therefrom, using conventional machinery with little or no modification. However, the boxes made from the flat patterns must also provide means for the interlocking of two or more such boxes together, as desired, and also for the easy separation of the boxes from one another when desired. The flat patterns for any specific box embodiment should be identical, in order to simplify the present box construction further.